Aug
2020

Consumer demands - seizing the opportunities in the beef industry

The Australian beef industry has prospects to expand to meet growing demand from Asian export markets. The industry makes a significant contribution to state and national economies and underpin many regional and rural communities. As the same time there are pressures from consumers stemming from concerns about how beef is produced (i.e impacts on animal welfare and environment) or concerns about the impacts of the product (i.e. impacts on sustainability and health). These are termed ‘credence’ attributes because they cannot be objectively measured, but instead must be communicated alongside the product to ensure it is credible to consumers.

In the research reported here we assess whether demands and concerns about various credence aspects of meat production are growing and likely to have a significant impact on the beef industry. For the purposes of this research we have focused on the credence attributes of: health and nutrition, ethical concerns about animal welfare, and sustainability concerns, including the environmental consequence of production on landscapes, biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions.

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